Why We Laugh

I remember horsing around once with my younger brothers in one of our bedrooms one Saturday morning when we were children. At one point, one of my brothers jumped off his bed, and as he flew up in the air, I flung a pillow at his feet.

"Ow!" he yelled when he landed, and gripped his foot. He started writhing on the floor in obvious pain. And, strangely, I started to laugh.

I remember thinking to myself that what had happened wasn't funny at all—I was, in fact, extremely concerned, both that he might be badly hurt and that I had been the cause—but I still couldn't stop laughing. Since then, my nervous laughter has recurred whenever someone has hurt themselves in front of me (falling on ice, down the stairs, off a ladder), my reaction as stereotypical as it's been puzzling and embarrassing, leading me recently to wonder why it happens at all.

PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES

Interestingly, this same nervous laughter has been noted to occur in many psychological experiments when subjects have found themselves placed under a high degree of emotional stress specifically involving perceived harm to others. Perhaps the most famous of these experiments were those conducted by Stanley Milgram, who set out to discover why some people will blindly follow authority (the impetus being a desire to understand the behavior of soldiers in Nazi Germany). He brought in test subjects and asked them to deliver a series of increasingly powerful electric shocks to an unseen person (the "learner") to see just how much voltage they would deliver before refusing to continue. An astounding 65% delivered the experiment's final jolt of 450 volts, fully believing they were actually shocking the "learners." (It turns out, they weren't. The "learners" were members of Milgram's team playing a role.) In the paper he published on his experiment, Milgram made mention of several subjects who began to laugh nervously once they heard screams of pain coming from the unseen "learners," and suggested this was a phenomenon that deserved further study.

Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran theorizes in his excellent book A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness that laughter evolved as a signal both to ourselves and others that what may appear dangerous or threatening actually isn't. As he writes, perhaps "...the rhythmic staccato sound of laughter evolved to inform our kin who share our genes: don't waste your precious resources on this situation; it's a false alarm." If true, this provides a plausible explanation for nervous laughter. We're signaling ourselves that whatever horrible thing we've just encountered isn't really as horrible as it appears, something we often desperately want to believe.

This may explain why some psychologists classify humor as one of the "mature" defense mechanisms we invoke to guard ourselves against overwhelming anxiety (as compared to the "psychotic," "immature," and "neurotic" defense mechanisms). Being able to laugh at traumatic events in our own lives doesn't cause us to ignore them, but instead seems to prepare us to endure them.

Being able to joke about a traumatic loss usually requires the healing distance of time, however. Losing a limb, for example, may make us suicidal when it first occurs, but with the passage of time we adapt to the loss and eventually may even find ourselves able to joke about it. What magic does the passage of time work on us that permits us to laugh at what once made us cry? Perhaps definitive proof that the alarm our loss raised when it first occurred was, in fact, "false." After all, we survived it and became happy again.

Being able to face an old trauma with humor may very well then be considered a reliable signal of psychological recovery. Perhaps also, by extension, being able to laugh at a trauma at the moment it occurs, or soon after, signals both to ourselves and others that we believe in our ability to endure it (which is perhaps what makes laughter such a universally pleasurable experience: it makes us feel that everything will be all right).

LAUGHTER AS A WEAPON

In light of the above, perhaps laughter could be most properly considered as a weapon against suffering and despair. If we can joke about a disappointing or traumatic event, we'll often find ourselves feeling that what's happened to us isn't so bad and that we'll be able to get through it. This expectation serves two vitally important functions:

It diminishes or even eliminates the moment-by-moment suffering we might otherwise experience as a result of a traumatic loss, which

Actually makes it more likely we will make it through a trauma unmarred and flourish once again

A key question about laughter remains, however: does it create the expectation that we'll be all right, or become possible only because we've found our way to a belief that things aren't as bad as they seem?

I'd suggest the answer is both, that laughing simultaneously creates and requires a high life-condition. We may manifest a high life-condition through other means besides laughter, but laughter also remains a means by which we can manifest a high life-condition.

When faced with adversity, some people exhibit a great ability for turning to laughter as a soothing balm, while others remain less able to do so. While this may be a result of differences in upbringing or genetics, I often wonder if it's equally as much a matter of intent. Perhaps many of us simply don't think to try to laugh, either because we're too overwhelmed by suffering or because we think laughter in the face of suffering is inappropriate.

I'm suggesting here that it's not. That in fact laughter is a powerful means by which we can encourage ourselves. That when confronted with setbacks, adversity, trauma, or terrible news, even if it may seem socially inappropriate, we should reach toward humor. We should try to find a way to make light of whatever circumstances make us afraid. Because if instead of focusing on the negative impact of an adverse event or experience we focus on simply laughing about it, actively and consciously pursuing a perspective that makes it funny, we just may be able to activate the most under recognized but powerful weapon we have against suffering.

I remember two specific people in my life that often pointed out when I would laugh, in their view, inappropriately. One was a person I worked with and the laughter occurred when we were discussing work problems especially when it meant that I was going to have to take action that would be uncomfortable for me - reprimand an employee for example. The second was a close friend and the circumstances were normally a disagreement that felt personal and emotional to both of us. Their comments normally went something like, "why are you laughing - this is not funny." I tried to explain that it was nervous laughter but the explanation was not usually satisfying to either of them.

Ah, now you know a bit more deeply why you laughed "inappropriately"....and you know a bit more about the other person's condition at that moment in time - they were not as optimistic as you were in the inevitability of surviving the painful pending actions.

Relative truth is real....especially real to the individual....but it is not the real truth.

The measure of enlightenment is when one's relative truth is much closer to the real truth. (And yes, there actually is real truth, contrary to that which relativists believe.)

It's fine if we learn to laugh at our own trauma. That's a gift! But what about people who laugh when they watch others in pain? It's not just nervous laughter. I'm more concerned about people who laugh out loud watching all those 'funny videos', which largely comprise of people, even kids, getting hurt. While I feel empathy for the people in those accidents, I have never been able to understand why some people will find it so funny (I can see atleast one 'rofl' comment for every video). Do you think the very labelling of the event as 'funny', or perhaps the background laughter noises, causes that? Because when the same thing happens before their eyes, in real time, I doubt they would react the same way.

I don't know if laughter at other's misfortune or accidents that isn't "nervous" (or an attempt for us to convince ourselves they're really okay) comes from a feeling of gratitude that it isn't us being hurt, or a malicious place. I wonder if the laughter would come as freely if those same people getting hurt were viewed in real life rather than on a video.

Why we laugh isn’t a mystery anymore. The questions about appropriate vs. inappropriate laughter, about laughing “with” vs. “at” someone, about how our relationship with others in our immediate social circle affects our laugh response, even the evolutionary origins of laughter…these have been worked out with a new, but little known theory published in 2008.

The theory defines laughter as “a vocal affirmation of mutual vulnerability.” If my friend spills gravy on his tie, my reminding him of our mutual vulnerability (that I too sometimes have trouble with such tasks) is welcomed. It is, in this context, a signal of sympathy, of solidarity. His status has been diminished by his actions, and my laughter effectively raises him back up (Lifting Laughter). If my pain-in-the-butt coworker, who thinks he’s so much better than I, highlights his shortcomings by spilling HIS gravy, then reminding him of our mutual vulnerability is my way of saying, “See, you’re not as great as you think you are.” Same message, just a different motivation (Lowering Laughter) and different response, most likely unwelcomed. These are examples of what we commonly refer to as laughing WITH someone and laughing AT them.

The same is true when laughing at our own vulnerabilities. Nervous (Self-Lifting) Laughter reminds others around us (or, if alone, ourselves) that others probably suffer the same fate sometimes. It solicits supportive responses (incl. Lifting Laughter) from those who might be nearby. And if our status is raised by some random or seemingly undeserved victory (e.g., a lottery win), then an expression of mutual vulnerability (Self-Lowering Laughter) is an acknowledgment that those around us could have won just as well, that our good fortune is not going to sever old friendships.

In all these cases, the message is the same even though the motivation and effects on others might differ. Just like a car horn (Hey!) can sometimes express the sender’s desire to say, “Hey, stop!” or “Hey, go!” And, similarly, a car horn can be welcomed when pressed by a loved one you’ve been waiting patiently for, or unwelcomed when pressed by the idiot behind you in rush hour traffic. It’s all a matter of context and relationship.

The other answers you seek—about why individuals and cultures differ in their laugh responses, about changes as we go from child to adult, about why bullies use laughter and humor as weapons, and even why we can’t tickle ourselves—are all available for anyone interested. Contact jsimon.wwl@gmail.com for a free PDF of the book.

I think laughter is used to denounce certain behaviour (or situations). For example, a situation that can cause you to laugh is someone slipping on a banana skin – a situation portrayed in many slapstick comedies. By laughing when someone has slipped on a banana, you are making it known to that person and other people who may be nearby that the behaviour (or situation) of that person was unacceptable, i.e. inferior (nonsensical, chaotic, bizarre etc.) and sometimes dangerous. In essence, you are telling the person and making it known to others that the person should have been looking where they were going and avoided the banana skin because it was dangerous and they could have hurt themselves or at least, when slipped on it, been physically able to maintain balance and you are laughing at their inability to do such. This is why when someone is laughed at, they generally feel bad about themselves. A species with the ability of laughter may more likely survive since it is discourages inferior and dangerous behaviour (physical and/or mental). When you laugh at a stand-up comic or comedy you are laughing at story the scenario that is being portrayed. A stand-up comic or comic actors are merely storytellers of unacceptable behaviour or situation. For example, you laugh at impersonations of celebrities because of the has imperfect behaviour like mannerisms. By laughing at the imperfection, you are encouraging the celebrity and others to be aware of such imperfections and not make behave in such a way. Although making a pun can be considered smart (since he/she is demonstrating knowledge by exploiting the multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding word), by laughing when a pun is made are you are generally still laughing at the nonsensical uncorrelated link created by a pun. And concerning situations not directly related to humans, like a car in the side of a building or a tree upside down, is considered bizarre and you are laughing at the nonsensicalness of the situation. It shouldn't happen and you are making it known as such. For example, someone saying to someone else "yogi i made a booboo" may be considered clever to create, but it is relatively nonsensical. Because someone telling the pun or joke may do it deliberately, they may not feel bad about themselves because they invited the laughter. If we did not get endorphins and thus be "happy" from laughing we would be less encouraged to laugh and denounce actions and situations, and so the purpose of the emotion would not be as effective. It would not be such an evolutionary advantage.

Obviously it's a question of degree and context. I'm assuming you feel the laughter is excessive or happens at inappropriate moments. Then yes, it can be a sign of one or more disorders. Pseudobulbar Affect has been featured in commercials recently. You could Google that as a start, but also try to get Robert Provine's book "Laughter: A Scientific Investigation." He devotes a chapter to this subject. Of course, there's no shame in consulting a psychiatrist. That's what they're trained for.

My husband laughs almost every time he says something. Makes no difference if people are around or not. He even laughs when he thinks it's just him and the dogs. He will say something like "I know you are a good dog" and then start laughing. It makes me crazy! Then, the other day, he mentioned that the similar laugh from a friend of ours would drive him crazy if he lived with her. Help!? I am almost hoping to lose my hearing. No, not really but it is very annoying. If I mention it to him I know he will get angry and pout for days. Perhaps it's more my problem than his since I am the one who is annoyed.

In my opinion, laughter is a reaction simply on a mood in the situation laughing at your brother, ok yes small comedy.In comparison to the situation about the Nazi german soldier, the two rank on different levels.I do agree with the person above saying laughing at our own trauma, but there are certain things one may find funny that another may not.I do like how they tried to support laughter within this blog by mentioning using it as a weapon and benefits of it and things of that nature.

I remember, about a decade back, when I was involved in a car wreck (nobody was injured) which totalled my car, and I didn't have insurance to cover it. It was a total loss. I laughed that night. And the next day, and the next day, and the next. It was an eerily disturbing laugh, a laugh on the edge of insanity. It was the only thing I could do to keep my head Iin straight. Whenever recounting to anyone else what had happened, I would slip into this laugh that one ought to hear from someone in an asylum. It wasn't until a week after the accident that I finally allowed myself to cry. I was tired of laughing at it and started to come to grips with the reality I what had happened